


The Prince

by GemiiniiCaptord



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
Genre: Anal Sex, Arranged Marriage, Blood and Violence, But it has a happy ending i promise, F/M, Hyrule under Demise, I'm Going to Hell, Link is poor, M/M, Mutual Pining, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Prince Ghirahim, Religion, Secret Crush, Secret Relationship, Slow Romance, War, everyone is human, mentions of torture but not involving Link or Ghirahim i swear, prince AU, think princess and the pauper but gay and Machivellian
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-08
Updated: 2018-03-08
Packaged: 2019-03-28 20:58:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,488
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13912098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GemiiniiCaptord/pseuds/GemiiniiCaptord
Summary: Link is far from home, in a kingdom he doesn't recognize, with a man he doesn't know. If he starts to fall for him, will he ever see his family again? Yet, when he learns that this man is the kingdom's Prince, and he's been sold into servant-hood to the Palace, he fears that the worst has already happened without his input. Does he fight, flee, or fall into the arms of an already betrothed, bloodthirsty Prince who may not have his best interests at heart? Only time will tell... but on the brink of war, Link isn't sure how much time he'll have left.Prince Ghirahim AU, told predominantly from Link's POV.





	The Prince

_Tortured screams echoed through the corridors of stone. She hurried, water dousing her raw and crusted hands, through the dark passageways. Her leather shoes made sharp slaps on the staircase up to the royal bedchambers. When she rose up, gasping from the climb, she croaked instructions to whomever was listening. “Take the basin, someone! God save the Queen!” An elder’s shaking fingers took it, and hurried through the great brass doors. The young woman wilted, shrinking to the floor, and took off her silk hat to suck in some air. The cloth felt like iron bearing down on her skull._

_A tirade of midwives and servant dames slipped into the stairwell through the doors. “Oh, what unholy ghosts must plague this palace,” they breathed. Their voices brushed against the youth’s ears like fallen petals in spring. She could hardly feel their touch over the sounds of the screaming._

_“What misfortune must fall upon this place? What misery!” The ladies gathered like clucking hens as the Queen’s desperate cries rang on. “My, this babe is not a blessing, indeed! Do you think it takes after its grandmother?” A few of them snickered, and she bristled, her fingernails catching on the threads of the fabric in her fists._

_“A baby born such as this could only be a curse.”_

_The comment prompted her to speak. She opened her mouth, willing something to come out from the tightness of her throat, but no sound left her. In any other circumstance, they would be prosecuted for speaking ill of the royal family. She had no right to do the King’s job, she reasoned, and it wasn’t as if they would listen. Her mouth shut tight with a snap._

_“Come now, child,” a senior midwife clucked to her. “’Tis just time for you to witness your first birth. You’re no use sittin’ there limp and lonely.” The elder snatched her hat, placing it in a crumbled heap back onto her head. “Up with ye.”_

_The youth stood, neglecting the hand offered to her, fixing her hat and smoothing out the wrinkles. The cries were deafening. “How will I know,” she begged, “if the babe is ready?”_

_The elder’s face crinkled, and her stocky body shuffled closer. Her lips sagged, close enough to give her a kiss. “What did ye say? Speak up, child, time is of the essence!”_

_She sighed into the chamber of noise, and nodded, summoning her voice. “Right! How will I know when the babe is ready?”_

_“Why, the babe will tell you, o’course. Why in the Heavens are you toddling with questions like tha’? If the creature should kick and come out breathing, you have nothing else to worry ‘bout. Right on then, I ain’t getting any younger.” The elder slapped her bum as she pushed in through the doors. “Off with ye!”_

_Sweat beaded on her forehead. The Queen was trembling in the throes of agony. Her golden spun locks were bronzed and matted to her scalp, her pale knuckles nearly broken in their worry of the sheets. Her Highness wrenched another desperate cry, and a tiny girl dabbed her face and chest with cool water. The room was hot with moving bodies, and rancid with sweat and grime, and for a moment the young women stood still, unsure that she had any place in a chamber such as this._

_“Your Highness, it’s time to push!” The Queen let out a pained gurgle, pulling her head away from the water, despite the rash of her face and lips. When the ruler spotted the young woman, she reached forward._

_“Impa,” the Queen moaned, and the frightened servant hurried to her bedside. The Queen’s hand in hers gripped tightly enough to scrape off the skin. Impa didn’t pull away, even as her palm bled. Her Highness no longer appeared capable of crying, because her next shout only came out as a dry whistle. In the cacophony of noise, Impa struggled to pick out her voice. “My servant… my dearest friend. You must know that I will not survive this night.”_

_Impa grasped her hand tighter. “My Queen, this cannot be true. You must live! You were as healthy as could be but a fortnight ago. This can’t be the thing to…” The Queen cut her off with a shake of her head, and Impa deflated._

_“You misunderstand me, dearest Impa…” she brought Impa’s trembling hand to her lips, staining them red. “You are all I have left. Please… care for my husband, and my unborn child. I fear that the babe’s first action shall be to kill me. If they live, protect them… for the people will come for my child.”_

_“Hylia… my Queen. I promise.”_

_It was only as Impa spoke these words that Queen Hylia let out a croak of an exhale, and her body went limp. The sound would haunt her most despicable nightmares. The babe slid out of her womb, into the nest of blood waiting for it on the mattress, and for a moment there was absolute silence._

_Fluid drained from the Queen’s prone body, and as the midwives dissolved into a frenzy of screams and wails, Impa held tight to her hand. The pressure on her skin relaxed, and for the first time since her late father’s passing, she began to weep, silent as a stone in the midst of a storm. The baby wailed for its mother’s breast, but nobody was willing to touch the poor creature. The midwives announced the Queen’s passing with devastated moans and hoarse prayers, and word quickly spread throughout the kingdom. The entirety of the state fell into mourning._

_Impa picked up the babe, cut the umbilical cord with a pocket knife, and rinsed it in the basin. It screeched with vigour, yet she washed the creature until the water grew maroon. She could not leave any trace of her. She wrapped the infant in swaddling clothes, held it close to her chest as it kicked and cried, and vanished into the sway of the crowd._

_Shrieking bounced off of the castle walls. Impa had never believed in spirits, but never before now had she witnessed a place so haunted. She could taste copper on her tongue, feel the stifling cold through her shoes on every step, and smell the blood of Hylia in every breath she took, yet this felt like an illusion. Death clung to every corner. Many great rulers had passed on within these walls, and yet Impa had never thought herself to be privileged enough to witness such a thing. She cradled Hylia’s baby in her thin arms, staring down at its puckered face. How simple it would be to kill it. All it would take to ruin the hopes of the royal lineage was the slip of a hand. She could spill the child’s brains to the floor, and none would be the wiser. It knows, Impa thought, that I am not its mother. Does it know that she died in order to give it life? That she gave herself up to bring it into this world, kicking and screaming?_

_The longer she stared, the more resolute she became. The child would grow, and one day it would learn that Hylia died so it could live. It would feel sorry, she vowed, for ever existing. But then her footsteps came to a halt, and she swayed on her feet. The babe was calm. Impa pressed a gentle thumb to the baby’s face, and it began to coo. She watched the creature try to suckle on her chest with some amusement, dismayed that it could find no milk._

_She had made a promise. One that she intended to keep. Even if this child should grow to be a daemon that the people feared, it was a child born of Hylia’s flesh and blood. She did not die for dishonor._

_Impa’s footsteps resumed, and when the nearest corridor stretched on into the throne room, she took it. She could hear the town criers out in the palace gardens, awaiting news of whether the child was dead or a changeling, spit flying from their mouths faster than they could create it. She could hear the people stomping and wailing, trampling the small and weak in their haste to the castle grounds. She could hear the royal guards breaking up fights and cutting down people in the streets who dared to spread rumours of the Queen being murdered. Yet, when she knelt before the King, and her knees scraped against the dust and dirt for him, all seemed silent._

_“Speak, peasant girl who holds my infant child. What have you to say that I have not yet heard from the farthest reaches of my kingdom?”_

_Impa raised her eyes to the King, and fought how her arms shook as she raised up the child for his piercing gaze._

_“Your Majesty, King Demise, a new prince is born.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Special thanks go to my lovely girlfriend @CatsProbably, who helped me get my thoughts in order, plan the plot, and listened to my wild ravings about this story idea. If you enjoyed it, or you have any constructive criticisms at all, please leave comments and I'll get back to you as soon as possible! I'm super excited to be getting this brain baby out into the world, so any feedback is appreciated! I'm in university, so I'm sorry if updates are slow: thanks for your patience! :)


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